“Bloodthirsty pirate captain.” Each word punctuated with a kiss on my body as he crawled his way to my mouth.
“I find breathing a difficult task when you are around, my bloodthirsty pirate captain,” I said with a sigh as I lay in his arms content.
13
MOONLIGHT LOOMING THROUGH THE BRANCHES
Y MIND KEPT TELLING ME that it wasn’t real, that this was just a dream. But I could feel every agonizing moment. Sheer terror gripped my throat as I tried to scream, but I was paralyzed.
My brain felt like it was in a fog, unable to think. I could see my surroundings, yet I couldn’t move a muscle. The trees were large and old with gnarled branches that only added to the eeriness.
Tears trailed down, pooling in my ears, as my silent sobs lodged in my throat. I lay on a cold stone altar. There was something heavy resting on my chest but moving to get a look at it was impossible. Why wouldn’t my body respond? Why couldn’t I move?
Dread and fear made my heart pound until I thought it would explode. Who was doing this to me, and why couldn’t I see his face? I heard words being spoken but they didn’t make any sense. What was he saying? My eyes kept coming back to the quarter moon looming through the branches of the old oak tree.
I heard other people chanting, repeating his words, and they were getting louder, more frantic. It all smacked of a pagan ritual, but it didn’t make sense. They had been outlawed.
The man was now standing over me. He wore a red hat and jacket to match. But what was on his face? It looked strange, somehow distorted. What was he holding in his hands?
I was now surrounded by men dressed in white, all standing around me also with distorted faces. They lifted the large slab that had been holding me down and still I could not move. I felt a scream escape my lips, yet nobody moved to help me. They just kept chanting their strange words.
He had a dagger in his hand and some kind of symbol drawn on his left wrist, but I couldn’t make it out clearly. Stark terror permeated me now. Somehow, I knew what was going to happen but was powerless to do anything about it.
I was going to die. A pagan ritual was being performed and I was the sacrifice. I wanted to turn away, close my eyes, anything but watch it unfold before me.
I couldn’t breathe. I felt myself shaking all over as the man in red raised the blade over my chest, his eyes looking into mine. Those evil sadistic eyes chilled me to my very marrow. The blade was coming down. This was it. I was finished. This I knew with certainty.
Sitting straight up in bed, gripping my chest, my screams of sheer terror were caught halfway in my throat and tears soaked my face. My chest heaved as I struggled to breathe.
Jude’s frightened face hovered over my own, terror-struck face.
I couldn’t distinguish between the two realities as confusion fogged my thoughts. Jude tried to console me but I cowered from him in fear, trying to get away. But Jude held on tight. His soothing words and calming tone finally got through my fog-riddled mind, pacifying the panic coursing through me. Jude held me in his arms, rocking me back and forth while stroking my hair.
“Shush, ma belle Ange, shush now. It was all a bad dream, my love. I’m here with you now. Shush, ma amour.”
Tears rolled down my cheeks, the dream still fresh in my mind. I tried to understand what had happened. Just like the other dream, it was so vivid, as if I was the one actually experiencing every agonizing painful moment.
My chest still felt tender where the dagger in my dream, had been driven into it. My tears subsided and Jude tipped my chin up as I held my hands to my chest. Breathing hurt and I winced in pain.
“What is it, Angelina?” his frightened eyes desperately searching my own.
“It was a very bad dream, that’s all. I will be fine in a minute.” I turned my head to avoid his penetrating stare.
Crawling from the bed, I slipped my robe on, tying it at the waist. Walking to the basin, I poured water and splashed my face.
“As much as I enjoy your company, my love, I am afraid the entire household was probably awakened by my screams and will soon be descending on my room,” I said, looking over my shoulder.
Climbing from the bed he slipped a shirt over his head then pulled his breaches on, tucking in the shirt. I watched him dress, slipping his boots on over his socks.
The sun had not yet crested the hills as the rooster crowed on the gate.
“I do not like sneaking about like a bandit stealing the family silver,” Jude said, watching me from the chair.
I turned from the window to look at him in all his rugged finery covered in dust. Closing the distance between us, I stood before him searching his face for what he was really trying to say to me.
“Jude, I love being with you, what more is there?” I asked.
“We could wed,” he said, his voice taking on a seriousness I had not known from him before.
Jude took my hands in his as he brought my palms to his lips, kissing them then pulling me onto his lap.
“You know how I feel about the bonds of marriage. We have discussed it at length. Remember?” I said, looking into his face searchingly.
“Surely you can see that what we share between us could never be a prison,” he said, pleading his case.
“I am not sure, I need time to think,” I answered, kissing him lightly on the lips as a way to end this line of discussion. I had hoped he would leave before the entire house became aware of our transgression.
“I will not be dismissed so easily, Angelina,” Jude said. I could tell he was becoming frustrated by my negative attitude on the matter.
“Can we discuss it further another time when I am not in fear of being discovered? Please, Jude?” I said, pleading with my eyes.
“I know when I am not wanted,” he joked, breaking the tension.
Standing, we walked to the balcony door. “Before I forget, Mother is having a dinner party and would like for you to attend.”
“Oh, Jude, surely not your mother, she scares me. Besides I didn’t get the feeling she approves of me the last time we met,” I pleaded, wanting to do anything other than sit at a table with his mother and make intelligent conversation.
“Lady Angelina Marguerite Amelia Stewart, are you trying to tell me the woman who stood toe to toe with a ruthless bloodthirsty pirate is afraid of my mother?” He laughed under his breath. “Tell me it isn’t so.” Lifting his eyebrow as if to challenge my pride.
“It isn’t funny. She truly frightens me, Jude. You are going to have to tell her I can’t make it. She will take one look at me and see everything written all over my face,” I said somberly.
“I am afraid I can’t do that. She was very insistent when I went to visit.” The evidence of his amusement laced in his words.
“Honestly, Jude Deveraux, I curse you with a pox,” I said, stomping my foot.
“I could stand here discussing it further or you could agree that I will pick you up Wednesday afternoon at four and we will spend time with my folks.” A rakish half-smile lit his face.
“Only on one condition,” I asserted.
“And what is that, may I inquire?” he asked, satisfied that he had won.
“Sarah and Jonathan accompany us so that I may have reinforcements to support me,”
“I will be there to support you,” he assured me.
“I mean someone that is on my side, not blackmailing me on his way out the door,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him.
“Darling, your words wound me to the quick,” feigning a mortal wound to his heart.
“Good! You may leave now. I am through with you,” I pretended to be indifferent to his charms.
Grabbing me as I turned to walk away, he kissed my lips roughly, demanding my attention before he left. He wanted to prove that I could never be indifferent to his touch. My skin was scorched where his hands had grasped my shoulders. I moaned with pleasure.
Pulling away he silently climbed down the trellis. I stood with swollen lips from his passio
nate kiss, and my skin still tingled from his touch.
I heard knocking at my bedroom door and Anna calling me. “Lady Angelina, are you all right. Someone said they heard a scream.” Running through the room, I unlatched the bedroom door to a frantic Anna.
“I’m fine, Anna, I just had another bad dream, that’s all. I will be fine,” I said, reassuring her.
Stepping into the room she put the tray down on the table. “Well, even I can see that. Look at you. You look as if you had been tossed about all night. You are lucky that it was me come to your room and not your mother or your brother,” Anna scolded me in her subtle way.
“What are you talking about, Anna?” I played coy, trying to avoid eye contact as I poured myself some tea.
“So that is the way you wish to play this then. You think I don’t know what it is to be young. Your secret is safe with me,” she said, her knowing eyes searched the room as she picked things up off the floor as she went. “So I take it that Lord Deveraux has communicated with you and that you are no longer worried for his well-being,” Anna continued while giving me a wry smile.
“Yes, I have heard from him directly and he is well and kicking. His mother has requested my presence Wednesday for a dinner party,” I told her glumly.
“And what can be wrong with that?” she asked, stopping her chores to look at me.
“Last time, I met her I got the distinct impression that she didn’t like me,” I whined.
“What is there not to like? You hold your head high and be yourself. She cannot help but fall in love with you.”
“Did I tell you how much I love you today?” I asked as I turned to her.
14
TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 1763;
WHAT’S A LITTLE SECRET BETWEEN FRIENDS?
AWOKE FEELING RESTLESS. THE VESTIGES of yesterday’s dream had hung with me. I couldn’t shake it. The eerie feelings and visions kept coming to my mind. The pain still lingering in my chest as I struggled to make sense of the whole thing.
I had decided that a brisk ride would clear my head and help chase away the feeling of unease. Checking my image in the mirror one last time on the way out the door, I had my hand on the knob.
“And exactly where do you think you are going, Angelina?” Father’s voice bellowed from the doorway of his office.
“I thought that I would stretch Dante’s legs and get some fresh air,” I answered not quite sure what the problem was.
“I can see that. My real question is, why are you going out alone?” he said, leaning against the door jam.
“Jonathan isn’t up yet. He stayed late at the Burgess’s last night, and you look like you are headed out. What would you suggest I do, Father, become a prisoner in my own home?” feeling more than a bit frustrated.
“I have retained the services of General Moore’s outfit. There will be three men on guard at all times. Stop by the kitchen on your way out; you should be able to find one of them in there,” his tone suggesting complete cooperation.
“Of course, Father.” Turning around to head back down the hall, I kissed him on the cheek as I passed by.
“And before I forget, Lord Deveraux stopped by my office yesterday with Jonathan. We had a nice long chat.” A smile played across his lips, as if he just remembered a funny joke.
Stopping in my tracks, I came back around to face him. “Oh, and what exactly did the two of you chat about, Father?” Feeling somewhat apprehensive about my father and my lover having an in-depth conversation about me.
“You, my dear, we talked about you. I gave him my full blessing to call on you,” he said with a chuckle then headed back to his office.
“What is so funny, Father?” I followed him into the office, indignation sitting on the tip of my tongue.
“It’s just that he understands you so well,” he said, now standing on the other side of his desk.
“What exactly does that mean, Father? He knows me so well,” I prickled, trying to keep the panic from my voice.
“I find him intelligent and I think he is a very nice young man, and I approve. That is all you need to know.” If he only knew the half of it! I wonder if he would approve of Jude Deveraux then. Color rising in my cheeks, I was unable to decide whether I was mortified over the fact that my father and Jude obviously shared a secret between them regarding me, or angry that Jude had gone to my father behind my back.
“Thank you, Father.” I tried to sound normal as I walked towards the door. “Well, if that isn’t the kiss of death,” I murmured under my breath as I got to the door.
“Excuse me, dear, did you say something?” Father smiled.
Shaking my head, “no, Father, just making an observation,” I smiled back.
I went in search of one of the three body guards on duty because I desperately needed to ride now, returning three hours later exhausted with one body guard trailing behind.
“Lady Stewart, if you would be so kind and slow down!” Young Thomas yelled to me as he tried to catch up. I proceeded to the stables as if I didn’t hear him, a large smile of satisfaction sat on my lips.
Spying Sarah’s carriage in the courtyard, I handed Dante off to one of the stable boys and rushed into the house to greet her.
“Mary, have you seen Sarah?” I asked, poking my head into the kitchen.
“Yes, Lady Angelina, she was in the garden with your brother,” she answered with a flick of her head.
“Thanks, Mary, you just saved me a lot of searching.” I flashed her a brilliant smile. Pouring myself a glass of water, I drank it down, and promptly left to find Sarah and Jonathan.
“Sarah, Jonathan!” I called out when I was unable to find them.
“Over here, Angelina,” Sarah called back, now standing and waving to me. They had been sitting in the Wisteria arbor secluded from sight.
“What are the two of you doing way over here, cloistered away?” I questioned, noticing a flush to her normally pale skin. Sarah blushed as Jonathan attempted to smooth things over.
“So I understand that you would like the two of us to accompany you and Lord Deveraux to his family’s dinner party. I hear you are in need of some reinforcements,” he said, stepping forward, attempting to distract me from what was really going on.
Giving him a knowing smile, I decided to ply him with his own tactics.
“Distract and conquer, dear brother. Yes, I am in need of reinforcements tomorrow evening, thank you for being so understanding. I am assuming that you are both willing to accompany us.” Smiling innocently at them both, I moved in between them, taking Sarah by the arm.
“Do you mind if I steal Sarah away for just a little bit? It has been so long since we had time together, seeing how the two of you spent so much time together as of late,” I said, leading Sarah away from him.
“But we were still talking, Angelina,” he stammered somewhat uncertain, not sure if he should follow after us.
“I promise to return her, Jonathan,” I called over my shoulder, then looked back to make sure he didn’t follow.
“What game are you playing at, Angie?” Sarah asked, looking over her shoulder, giving Jonathan a reassuring smile to let him know all was well.
“Why, whatever do you mean?” I queried innocently. “I am simply in need of my best friend in the world and her advice, that is all.” Squeezing her arm, I looked in to her eyes. “Besides, Jonathan can survive an hour without you, I may not.”
Sarah now giving me her full attention. “What is it, Angie?” Concern was etched in her voice.
“I’m not completely sure, that’s why I need your advice,” I said, not meaning to be cryptic. “I have been afraid of saying anything to anyone. It’s a little crazy.”
“Well? Go on, don’t keep me in suspense,” she encouraged me to say more as we walked.
“Remember when I was unconscious for three days?”
“After you took those two highway men on all by yourself? Who could forget? I was sure you had knocked your head or something,” she re
called, her eyes reflecting the fear she had had for me.
“I had dreamed the murder of that woman at the king’s party. The red head found assaulted and drowned in the boat,” my voice cracking as emotion seeped in.
“What do you mean you dreamed the murder?” Shock registering on Sarah’s face.
“I mean I woke that morning having experienced every agonizing detail of her murder. From the man cutting her to the moment she was held under the water and drowned. That’s what I mean.”
“But how is that possible, Angie?” Skepticism was written all over her delicate face.
“I don’t know, Sarah, that’s the problem,” I replied as she pulled away from me.
“There is more to this story, isn’t there?” She studied my face then took my arm again. “If you want my help, you are going to have to tell me the whole thing.”
“She was dressed in my wig and corset from that night,” I said. I could feel my face color from the admission.
“Well?” was all she said. Then the long pause came as I decided just how much I would confess.
“What I am about to reveal to you goes to your grave. Not even Jonathan can know and you will understand when I tell you the whole thing,” giving Sarah a severe look.
“I swear!” Sarah said, holding her right hand over her heart.
“I mean it, Sarah, not even Jonathan!” I said, steering her toward a bench.
“Now you have me worried,” she said.
“Swear, Sarah, and truly mean it! A man’s life depends upon it.” The gravity of my words began to sink in.
“I swear it, Angie, on my life I will never reveal what you are about to tell me. Not even to Jonathan.” Sarah sat down next to me on the bench with quiet reverence. Taking my hands in hers, she waited for me to get the courage to tell her everything.
“Jude Deveraux is in fact the pirate captain that captured my ship in March. I discovered his secret that night when he kissed me.” The shadow of disbelief and shock played across Sarah’s face. “There is more. Do you need a minute?” I asked, waiting for the astounding news to sink in before continuing.
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